oh my good cardinals loving god

the world champions! very few rabid redbird posts, just in case the curse was real, but oh my god, the baseball. it was beautiful and ugly, sometimes at the same time. some thoughts.

- what a time for david eckstein to remember how to bat! though i am of the opinion that scott rolen deserved the series mvp, eck is a great choice as well.

- i'd be thrilled to have jeff weaver next year, especially when (not if) we can't afford to overpay supp for his "play to the level of the opponent" talent.

- you can beat pujols this world series, but you can't beat the cardinals. i guess we turned that one on it's head for the series.

- the parade was a fun half hour, but jack doesn't deal well with crowds, so that's about all we got. we did get home just in time to see the ceremonies on tv. my man juan e'car'cion as a no show, well that just wasn't ok. come on, man, i've been defending you.

perhaps more later this week. for now, i'll enjoy it as much as you will.

Game 4

oh, there they are

last night we got a little reminder that this team did limp into the post season. as evidenced by the series versus the padres and the first three games of the nlcs, they are capable of some stunning baseball. as perfectly shown by the play in which edmonds, belliard, and (correct me if i'm wrong) eckstein watched a ball fall that any one of them could have caught. we were an offensive force last night, but we were up against an offensive juggernaught.

it doesn't matter, though. everything so far this series has been a bonus for a team that finished the season only a few games over .500 in a division full of weaklings. it's now a three game series. we stand a chance in a three game series, just as any team would (hell, the royals swept the tigers at the end of the regular season... anything could freakin' happen).

now, if the new driver we hired will shut up today about the met blowout, we can all move on. just a three game series.

curses be damned

so, we backed into a championship. yesterday was kind of like being the runner up in an election, only to have the actual winner be exposed as a drug addict on election night, and thus you win by default.

thanks to anonymous, who (for the benefit of those who don't read the comments) wrote regarding my last post:

Did you seriously post this before another seven game losing streak?You should erase this blog for the good of your team and your city.It's funny.I like to read it.But start over.And burn some sage or something.

no, i think i posted it after the first game of the streak, to be honest, but in reality, i don't believe in such things. i haven't been posting much not because of the "curse" of rabid redbird, but rather because i haven't wanted to badmouth our team through some of the ugliest stretches of baseball i have ever had the displeasure to follow. in the last few weeks, i turned off more games than i care to admit.

regarding yesterday's start. why reyes? i would have just called it a bullpen start and sent narveson out there again against that lefty heavy lineup. then again, i'm not a major league manager, so, what happened happened. i do think that anthony may have pitched himself out of a playoff roster spot, and frankly, so much the better. i would rather him not get rocked by a superior team in the post-season, damaging his confidence or (far worse) his arm by trying to overthrow.

the three homers in the ninth tell me not to expect too much in the playoffs (not that i was, anyway). once the pressure was off, our guys found it in them to knock the shit out of the ball. up until that point, they had been shut down by a good, but not great pitcher, despite having several great talents in the lineup.

wait, that gives me an idea. perhaps if we can convince them that they've already clinched the world series due to someone else's accomplishment, we can have us a party...